Chapter 16: Moving to Hetzner (a Retrospective)

In this chapter, Michael Kennedy recounts Talk Python’s switch from DigitalOcean to Hetzner's new US data center. By migrating 20-plus services and databases, he gained superior CPU speeds, an 8x bandwidth boost, and cost savings of nearly $1,500 annually. You’ll see how server benchmarks and hands-on comparisons revealed Hetzner’s surprisingly affordable and powerful cloud VMs. Michael also explains why modernizing Talk Python’s “one big server” made this move straightforward, just export and re-deploy the containerized infrastructure. If you’ve ever wondered whether hosting abroad might benefit performance and budget, this Hetzner retrospective offers a firsthand look at the decision process.